Western Apache Dictionary

APPENDIX 1
Grammar

The Western Apache language belongs to the Athapaskan
family of languages. Others in the Southwest speaking these
languages are Mescalero, Chiracahua and Jicarilla Apaches, and
Navajos. As shown by the map in Appendix 4, there are many
Athapaskan Indian tribes in Canada and Alaska. Western Apache
is spoken by members of the White Mountain and San Carlos
tribes. There are some differences in forms and pronunciations of
words, but all understand one another.

A great deal of linguistic work has been done on the Southern
Athapaskan languages. Early Catholic missionaries studied the
Navajo, and early Lutheran missionaries the Apache. As early as
the 1920s and 30s Dr. Edward Sapir and Dr. Harry Hoijer of the
University of California at Los Angeles were studying these lan-
guages. After Dr. Sapir's death Dr. Hoijer continued the work,
and has published very valuable material. In 1945 and 46, articles
on the Apachean Verb by Dr. Hoijer were published in the Inter-
national Journal of American Linguistics. These articles and other
materials written by Dr. Hoijer have been basic to the work other
linguists have done. In the early 1940s some very good work was
done on the Navajo by Dr. WOliam Morgan, Navajo, and Dr.
Robert Young, Anglo. The result of their work was published in
the book, "The Navajo Language." Much in the grammar section
of this book is applicable to Apache.
Sentence Structure:

In general, the order in an Apache sentence is subject, object,
verb.

Subject Object Verb

Ishkiin lif yizloh. The boy caught the horse.'

boy horse he caught it

Dependent clauses precede main clauses and are usually joined
to them by the enclitic -go.
An naMziigyu diya^o kg' godiltli'go yo'if.

He work - to as-he-went fire buming-an-area he-saw
'He saw the forest fire on his way to work.'

The verb is the basis of the Apache language. Most English
adjectives are expressed by verbal forms in Apache, and many
Apache nouns are nominalized verbs. For example, broom is 'that

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with which sweeping is done', and chair is 'that on which one sits'.
The verbs are very complex. A complete sentence in English may
be translated by one Apache verb. The thought expressed is very
precise, the exact tense, the number of people involved, adverbial
ideas, as well as the exact kind of action, and in the case of verbs
involving handling, the kind of article handled. It is the verb that
has given the Apachean languages the reputatior) of being the
most difficult of all languages.

Dr. Hoijer* has described 14 positions in the verb complex,
as follows: 1. Indirect object, 2. Postposition, 3. Adverbial pre-
fixes, 4. Theme prefix, 5. Iterative mode, 6. Number prefix,
7. Direct object, 8. Deictic prefix, 9. Adverbial prefix, 10. Tense
prefix, 11. Modal prefix, 12. Subject prefix, 13. Classifier, 14.
Stem. One, two, or possibly three enclitics may follow the stem,
such as nominalizers, and others expressing the ideas of at, from,
etc. Some of these positions are filled by complete syllables, or
in some cases the two are elided so that two positions are filled
by one syllable. In a very few cases the object, the postposition,
and the theme prefix are composed of two syllables. Not all
fourteen positions are filled in any one verb. In the examples
below, the numbers refer to these positions. The first two posi-
tions make up a postpositional phrase, like a prepositional phrase
in English, but with the object first. These two positions are often
written as one word, separate from the rest of the verb. They are
not as closely bound to the verb as the others. In some of his later
work, Dr. Hoijer has not considered them as part of the verb
complex, but they usually need to be spoken with the verb in
order to complete its thought in any particular context. We will
use the abbreviation 'E' to indicate enclitics in the examples
below.

12 3 4 ^ 6 12 14

yaa na - tsi - daa kees

it about around (pi) they think

'they (pi) are thinking about it'

(The -tsf- theme prefix always occurs with the verbs meaning 'to

think'. No prefix in position 12 indicates third person.)

1 2 4 6 12 14 E

hi - ch'i' yi - daash - ti' - go

him/her/them to (pi) I talk as *as I was talking to them*

*Hoijer, Harry, "The Apachean Verb, Part 1: Verb Structure and Pro-
nominal Prefixes," International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 11,
No. 4, October 1945.

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1 2 3 6 14 E E

doo yi kik'eh a - daa- fee da- yugo

neg. him/her/it according to thus (pi) (to be) neg. if

E

question 'what if they don't obey?'

(The final part of the spht negativizer doo.. .da, though actually
an enclitic, is usually written separately.)

3 6 7 10 12 14

ga - daa - shil - dol - ^ih/niih

thus (pi) me future-you say 'you (pi) will say thus to me'

3 6 7 11 12 14

a - daa- nohwil -dish dii/nii

that (pi) you imperfective-I say rm saying that to you (pi)'

6 7 8 14 E

daa - bil - ch'i - dii/nii - go

(pi) him they say - ing *they saying to him'

(The -ch'i-, deictic subject, is the 3a form, a special third person
which points to some particular person or persons. It is also used
as a *polite form* in conversation between people of certain rela-
tionships)

VERB PARADIGMS

Each Apache verb may have a number of tenses and modes,
to express action that is future, present continuative or present
instantaneous, past, repeated, desired, etc. There are also neuter
verbs, where tense is not expressed. Future and past may also be
expressed by the present tense forms with enclitics, doleel or
ndi at'ee for future, and ni' or l^'e/l^k'e for past. Although we
speak of these as enclitics because they are without meaning apart
from the verb, these particular ones are not usually written as
part of the verb, but as separate words to make for easier reading.
In the following paradigms we will name the tenses by terms used
by Dr. Hoijer and by Drs. Young and Morgan-Future, Imper-
fective (about the same as present), Perfective (comparable to
past), Repetitive (repeated action), with some mention of Opta-

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tive. These are representative of the tenses and modes employed
by the majority of the verbs.

' to read it'

These forms require an object in the context, as, 'he is reading
the book'. The Future forms are made by adding ndi stV€i to the
Imperfective forms.

IMPERFECTIVE

SINGULAR

1 hoshiT

2 h6nzhii

3 yozhu

3 a ch'ozhn

DUAL

hooljii/h^QJii
holshn/hohshn
daayozhu
daach'ozhir

PLURAL

daahooljii/daahqQJii
daaholshn/daahohshn
daayozhu
daach'ozhn

PERFECTIVE

1 hozhi'

2 h6fizhi'

3 yozhi'
3a ch'ozhi'

hooljiVh^qji'
holshi'/hohshi'
daayozhi'
daach'ozhi'

daah6oljiVdaahqqji'
daaholshi'/daahohshi'
daayozhi'
daach'ozhi'

REPETITIVE

1 ndhoshjiih ndh6oljiih/ndh^qjiih nddaahooljiih/nadaah^qjilh

2 n^6njiih ndh6ishiih/nih6hshiih nadaah6lshiih/

nadaahohshiih

3 n^y6jiih nMaay6jiih nadaayojiih

3 a n5ch'6jiih nddaach'ojiih nddaach'6jiih

' to read '

When there is no object in the context, the initial 'h' is replaced
by a glottal stop. The first person singular form would be transla-
ted, 'I am reading'. The Imperfective only will be given here. It
is not essential that the glottal stop be written at the beginning of
a word. When a word begins with a vowel, the glottal stop is
'understood'.

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IMPERFECTIVE

1 oshn

2 onzhii

3 ozhiT

3a ich'ozhiT

6oljii/Qqjii
olshiT/ohshn
da'ozhn
da'ch'ozhn

da'6oijii/da'qqjii
da'olshu/da'ohshn
da'ozhiT
da'ch'ozhu

Note that in the first person singular Imperfective forms, where
the subject pronoun prefix is--sh-, the stem initial zh changes to
sh. This also occurs in the second person dual and plural forms,
where the subject pronoun prefix is -ol/oh-. This is the effect of
the voicelessness of the sh, h and I on the voiced zh. The same
occurs when the stem initial is 1. It becomes 1 after the sh and h,
and blends with the I. See the verb 'to make, or do'.

' to make, or do'

FUTURE

SINGULAR

DUAL

PLURAL

1 ^dishliil

2 AdfiMA

3 aidooliil
3a ich'idooliit

^dndliil
^dohliU
ddaidooHU
SdaachldooHU

ddaadndliil
ddaadohlii)
ddaidooliil
adaach'idooliil

IMPERFECTIVE

1 dshle'

2 anie'

3 ^yUe'
Saich'ile'

^iidle* idaahiidle'

Shle' ddaahk'

adaile' ddaile'

idaach'ile' idaach'ile*

PERFECTIVE

1

2 dnlaa

3 dyulaa
3a dch*ilaa

^iidlaa ddaahiidlaa

dhlaa ddaahlaa

idaizlaa ddaizlaa

ddaach'izlaa* ddaach'izlaa*

*adaachMzlaa will normally assimilate to adaatsUzlaa, because of the z.

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CUSTOMARY

1 asht'u ahiit'it adaahiit'ii

2 ant'ii alt'u adaah'jj

3 at'n adaat'ii adaat*ii
Saach'it'ii adaach'it'ij adaach'it'ii

REPETITIVE

1 anash'iih

2 andnl'ijh

3 anayil'jih
3aanach'il'iih

andiirijh
^nariih
anadail*iih
anddaachMl'iih

anadaiiPjih
anddaarith
anadairiih
anadaachMl'iih

OPTATIVE

Optative forms express, with certain particles, a strong desire or
a strong negative command. For example:

Ch'eh tah doshle' tana nsj 'I wish I could do it'

Ddku Sole' hela' ' Don't do it! (to one person)'

1 doshle'

2 aole'

3 ayole'
Saach'ole'

aodle'
aok'
adaayole'
adaach'ole'

adaodle'
adaole'
adaayole'
adaach'ole'

The verbs 'to go or come' and 'to sit' use different verb stems to
indicate number. For example:

dishdah/dishaal / nt'ash we (2) will go nkah we (pi) will go

dishgaal I will go

dfyaa/deyaa

Vm going (now)
nasiiya I went
(and came back)

det'aazh we (2) are dekai we (pi) are going
going

nashiit'aazh

we (2) went

ndnsdzaa I came back nSnt'aazh we (2)
came back

sidaa I am sitting

sikee we (2) are
sitting

nasiikai we (pi) went

nSnkai we (pi)

came back

nahaat^ we (pi) are
sitting

(These forms are also used to mean 'I am here', 'we are here')

dahnidii I sat down dahnikee we (2) dahdiniibiih

sat down we (pi) sat down

VERB FORMS FOR 'to handle'

Verbs expressing action which has to do with the handling of
articles employ stems which classify these articles as to size, shape,
number, etc. The stems for the most commonly used tenses and
modes are given below, in the following order-Future, Imper-
fective, Perfective, Repetitive. Different prefixes are used for the
different kinds of handling actions, as, *to pick up', 'to put down',
'to give', 'to carry', etc. The third person imperfective form for
each will be found in the dictionary, using the stem for a bulky
object which is the first class given below:

-'aah, -'aah, -'44, -'dh to handle one bulky object, as a rock, book,
hat, box, etc. 'he picked up the rock' ts^ ndidn'44

-jah, -j^, -jaa', -jih to handle plural objects of small size as seeds,
loose beads, change, etc.
'he picked up the change' zhddli naidnjaa'

-ts6, -tsoo', -tso', -tsoh to handle non-compact matter as wool,
loose hay, tangled yarn, etc.
'he picked up the wool' ighaa' niidntso'

-kaal, -kaah, -kq^, -kdh to handle anything in an open vessel, as in
a pail, basket, on a plate, etc,
'he picked up the cookies (on a plate)' baA likan^ n^idnk^^

-1^61, -1^, -laa, -\ih to handle a slender, flexible object as a rope,
string of beads, etc.
'he picked up the rope' tl'ool naidnlaa

-diil/-niil, -dulZ-nnl, -dil/-nil, -dil/-nil to handle plural objects,
animate or inanimate, as several stones (any size), books,
puppies, ropes, etc.
'he picked up a lot of books' naltsoos )44go ndidndO/nil

-teel, -teeh, -tif, -t6h to handle one live object, as a baby, puppy,
bug, etc. *she picked up the baby' m^' ndidnltif

-tjih, -tjih, -t^, -tih to handle a slender, stiff object, as a pole,
pencil, st'ick, etc.
*he picked up the cane' gish ndidnt^

-tied, -tkeh, -tl^g, -tloh to handle mushy matter, as mud, mortar
etc. 'he picked up the clay' goshtrish n^idntl^

-tsoos, -ts66s, -tsooz, -tsos to handle a flexible and flat object,
as paper, cloth, blanket, etc.
'he picked up the blanket' ch'ig/d n^idnUsooz

-n€\ •n€\ -n6', -n€*,to handle anything, any size, number, shape,
usually used when these factors are unknown or indefinite,
'he picked up the things' ilta'at'ehi ndidnne'

The following illustrate most of the 'to handle' verbs, using
one object (ch'ig/ch'id blanket), and past tense. This means that
one stem is used with varying prefixes and postpositions. All are
in third person.

1. Biki*idan6 ch*ig bikd* dahstsooz. The blanket is on the table.

2. Bimaa ch'ig yaa yffiltsooz. He brought the blanket to his

mother./He gave the blanket to his mother.

3. Shidizh6 ch'ig shd yilMtsooz. My little brother/sister carried

the blanket for me.

4. Shidee ch'ig nafikaadu dabu ^t'imn ndyinltsooz. My big

sister/brother chose the blanket with the fringe.

5. Ishkiin ch'ig shich'j' dahyinltsooz. The boy handed me the

blanket.

6. Ch'ig dahyti dahyistsooz. She hung up the blanket.

7. M^' ch'ig dahyinltsooz. The baby lifted the blar\ket.

8. Ch'ig sha'filtsooz. She loaned the blanket to me.

9. Ch'ig ndinltsoozy^' bikd'iddn^ y'lkSi* dahyistsooz. She moved

the blanket from where it was to the table.

10. Bich'ig anyfftttsooz. She pawned her blanket.

1 1. Shiye' ch'ig ndyinltsooz. My son picked up the blanket.

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12. Ch'ig ch'a'6dag n'iT ndyinltsooz. She recovered the blanket

that was lost.

13. Ch'ig bich'4' chVodag n'ff yaa ndymltsooz. She replaced

the blanket she had lost.

14. Ch*ig ba chTmltsooz n'n yaa ndyrnltsooz. She returned the

blanket she had borrowed.

15. Ch'ig k'ihzhi' nyuiltsooz. She put the blanket away.

16. Ch*ig ni' nyilfiltsooz. She put the blanket down.

PRONOUNS

Pronouns may be independent, or prefixed to nouns or post-
si tions.

positions.

INDEPENDENT:

shilf I

ni you

bn, in he, she, it, they
(an is always a person)

kn he, she (3a)

nohwn/n^e we

nohwn you (pi)

daabiT they

daakn they (3 a)

shfye^ mine
diyee/niyii yours
bry66 his, hers, theirs, its

kiye^ his, hers (3 a)
nohwfy^e ours
nohwiy6e yours (pi)
daabfy^e theirs
daakfye^ theirs (3a)

POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS, prefixed to nouns:

The noun yoo' 'beads', changes to -yo' when possessed. This
is true of many, though not all nouns. The changes in form are
not regular. They may involve length of vowel, tone, or even a
change in either the initial or final consonant. Lu' 'horse' becomes
blip 'his/her horse'. Trool 'rope' becomes bitl'ol 'his/her rope'.

SINGULAR

PLURAL

shiyo' my beads
niyo' your beads
biyo' his/her/its beads
kiyo' his/her beads (3a)

nohwiyo' our beads
nohwiyo' your beads
biyo' their beads
kiyo' their beads (3 a)

It is possible to use daanohwiyo' and daabiyo' when necessary
to emphasize that the beads belong to several different persons,
but this is normally shown by the verb or by the context.

Body parts are obligatorily possessed. They have an indefinite
pronoun form i-, but it would be rarely used since one does not
speak ordinarily of a body part not belonging to the body. One
which is used is its'in *bone' (something's bone).

INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS, prefixed to postpositions:

shich'f to me

nich*i' to you

bich'i' to him/her/it/ them

yich'i' he/she/it/them to him/her/it/them

kich'i' to him/her/them (3a)

nohwich'i' to us/you (pi)

ich'j' to something or someone (indefinite possessor)

ilch'i' to each other

When joined to postpositions which do not begin with a con-
sonant, the consonant of the pronoun is joined directly to the
postposition, as:

shaa

about/to me

naa

about/to you

baa

about him/her/it/ them

yaa

he/she/it/them about him/her/it/ them

kaa

about him/her (3a)

aa

about something or someone

Uhaa

about each other

( aa and ithaa would begin with a glottal stop if they were
written word initially)
^daa about oneself

Object and subject pronouns also occur as verb prefixes, as was
seen in the section on verbs. Object pronoun prefixes have the
same form as those prefixed to postpositions. The yi- form indi-
cates, as it does with the postposition, action of a third person
or persons on another third person or persons, when neither is
put in the 3a form. Usual subject pronoun forms are as follows:

-sh- T (this may assimilate to -s- before a stem beginning with
ts, dz, etc.) In perfective forms there is usually some other
indication of a first person subject, as a high tone on the
syllable preceding the stem.

-n-/high tone on prefix or stem 'you' ^^e absence of a prefix
in the subject prefix position indicates that the subject is
third person-'he/she/it/them'. (When it is 'them', this of
course is indicated by the -daa- or -da'-).

-ch'i- 'he/she/them' 3a subject in deictic subject position. This
sometimes assimilates to ts'i when followed by a stem
beginning with ts, dz, etc.

-ii-/-n- 'we' This prefix is followed by a change in the initial
consonant of the verb stem. Some linguists call it the 'd
effect'. A stem beginning with 1 changes to dl, one begin-
ning with a glottal stop changes to t', one beginning with
zh changes to j, etc.

-oh-/-ol- 'you (pi)' Whether the 'we' and 'you' are dual or plural
depends on whether or not there is a daa or da' in verb
position 6. The subject prefix is the same.

PARTICLES

It is convenient to class as 'particles' the variety of classes of
words or enclitics which serve as connectives, or to indicate time,
emphasis, feeling, etc. Sometimes it is difficult to determine
whether to write some of these as separate words or to join them
to the preceding noun or verb form as encHtics. Some examples
are:
CONNECTIVES:

4a'ir, hik'eh and aik'ehgo and so, therefore

diye'/arg^'/^Kir and then df bigh^ for that reason

^kohgo and so iir\&*/&id^^ then

ndi/ndihn but da'dgdt'^ ndi even so

-go -ing, and, since

TIME INDICATORS:

-n57-<i4' when (in the past) ndee/nnee dala'adzaand' nant'dn
hadziih 'when the people had gathered, the ruler spoke'

n'ilf used to be nanl'j' n'n bfgozihgo ddoldiil/Molniil *that which
was hidden will be made known'

ni' used to oltagee ikh'igo'aah ni' 'he used to teach in the
school'

l^'e/l^k'e in the past doo hat'ilf daadii/nii da l^'e 'they didn't
say anything'

doleel will be baa k'e'eshchiinu dawa begolde'/ne* doleel 'all I
have written about will be fulfilled'

PLACE INDICATORS:

-y^'/-geV-dr from da'adahg^'/da'anahdr ike' higaal 'he followed
from far off

-yu to hay6 dmyaa? 'where are you going?'

-gee at daagonoljigee 'where you live'

yude'/yune' inside ha'an^h yude'/yune' 'inside the gathering
place'

OTHER FREQUENTLY USED PARTICLES:

zh4 only shn zh4 aku dfy^a 'I'm the only one going there'

aJd67d6' also shn ald6' masadna la' hasht'u 'I too want an
apple'

44i that's all 44I nagosdi'naVnagosni'ni' 'when he had told it

air

k'ad soon, k'adii now k'adiTaku dfy^^ *rm going there now'
n6e following the main verb makes a statement into a question.

PARTICLES THAT EXPRESS FEELING, EMPHASIS, ETC.:

In English, feeling and emphasis are expressed mainly by into-
nation. This is why we enjoy it when readers of English read 'with

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expression'. In Apache, to a large extent, this is taken care of by
certain particles built into the language. In the examples below,
the particles will be left without an attempt at a hteral translation,
but we will try to express something of the feeling in the free
translation.

Akqq nashaa le'at'6hi. i should have gone there!'
There I-go

Ndaaz shj. 'I wonder if it's heavy /Maybe it's heavy.'
It*s-heavy

Ch'fn6ddih hela'. 'Don't c ome out!/Don't you dare come

You (one)-come-out OUt!'

(Optative form)

Ha6dziih hela'. 'Don't speak!/Don't you dare speak!'

You (one)-speak

Hat'ir/nt'6 bigh^? 'Why?'
What its-reason

Hat'u 144 bighq? 'Why in the world?'

What its reason

Hat'n/nt'6 itVii doleel d^i? 'What can it be?'

What it-is will (a wait and see attitude)

Dog', da'61jii le'. 'Come on, let's read.'
we-read

(Optative)

John bizhi' ginii. 'John is really his name (for sure).'

John his-name

Shil nzhQQgo bil nash'aash g&nii.

me-with she-being-nice her-with I-live

'I really love her, that's why I married her.'

WESTERN mCBE
DIGTI0NAB7

Compiled By

Staff of the White Mountain Apache Culture Center

Edgar Perry (Jaa Bllataha) Director

Canyon Z. Quintero, Sr.

Catherine D. Davenport

Corrine B. Perry

Illustrated By
Canyon Z. Quintero, Sr.

Cover Design By
Edgar Perry

Cover photo of Carl Clawson, Cedar Creek, Arizona

Published

by the

WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHE TRIBE

©1972 White Mountain Apache Culture Center

P.O. Box 507

Fort Apache, Arizona 85926

— 5000 —